Women falls into dangerous open manhole
Woman injured when stepping into an open manhole in the dark.
On the evening of 25 March the inevitable happened.
A woman on her way to visit a friend at Tonga flats in Sonop Street, Horizon View, got off the taxi close to her destination.
As it was already just past 7pm and dark, she did not see the square hole in the ground of which the lid had been stolen. This is the hole that houses the water meter of the complex and it is about a metre deep.
The woman stepped right into the hole and injured her leg and back. On the scene, crying of pain, she indicated to bystanders that her spine got hurt. They advised her to remain in the same position until the emergency services arrived.
ER24 attended the scene and established that her injuries fortunately were not of a serious nature. The woman decided not to be taken to hospital.
Recently, the lids of another two manholes only metres away from this one also were stolen.
What is alarming is that many residents enjoy walking along this route to exercise or to take their dogs on an outing. Every school day hundreds of pupils from West Ridge High School also walk along this route to Westgate Shopping Centre and the taxi ranks.
One bystander rightly remarked, “That it is typical of the municipality. Someone first must get hurt or die before action is taken.”
